Plasma technology for the treatment of solid bodies is now under intensive development to replace substantially liquid chemical kinds of treatment in all operations. Various kinds of processing of the surface of solid bodies exist, including heat treatment, plasmochemical cleaning and etching, and film forming.
Known in the art are plants in which a plasma medium is provided under a pressure of at least 10.sup.2 Pa. Such vacuum plasma treatment plants include a vacuum chamber having a gas evacuation system and incorporating a plasma generator having a plasma forming gas supply system and a support holder. A three-dimensional charge is excited in such vacuum plasma treatment plants, and the support is stationary. For the excitation of plasma, use is made of a high-frequency, SHF Super High Frequency, glow, or arc discharge which, according to the gas or cathode target material used, forms a desired plasma composition for etching or film deposition.
Higher vacuum under these conditions contributes to a more uniform surface treatment. However, a higher vacuum results in a decrease in the density of active particles and the lower flow of such particles towards the surface, so as to prolong the surface treatment period. This is one of the reasons why the throughput capacity of such plants is inadequate. In addition, low throughput capacity is caused by the need for the continuous maintenance of the vacuum, i.e. evacuation of the whole working volume of the chamber. This is especially pronounced where the plasma forming gas is to be replaced, when it is necessary to carry out the complete cleaning of particles from the chamber, so as to avoid having undesired impurities when starting a new cycle of surface treatment. This results in the need for a prolonged period of preparation of the plant for operation. When such plants are used for continuous manufacturing treatment processes, lock chambers are provided where there is a need for communication with atmosphere, so as to increase the throughput capacity. In such arrangements, contamination of the supports can result, which is extremely undesirable, particularly in electronic engineering.